Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The implications of Bhutto’s murder

Outside the hospital where Benazir Bhutto died, her supporters chanted “Dog Musharraf, dog” – but no one would seriously believe that he, or any political party, was behind it. She herself blamed al-Qaeda and the Taliban for an October attack on her homecoming procession in Karachi which killed 130. The most likely assumption is that they are to blame this time.
 
If you have al-Jazeera, turn it on – its coverage is easily the best. Its commentators are focusing on how much security she was afforded by the Pakistani police: she was an obvious target. How hard did they try to protect her? Leaving holes in her security is as good as killing her. 
 
One macabre aspect of this is how, when established newswires are struggling to get the line straight, the news is quickly established on the web. Her death was proclaimed in hospital she was taken to at 1.15pm GMT. Ten minutes later her, her Wikipedia entry was updated and the “is” changed into “was”.

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